In this episode of the National Rural Education Association, Drs. Pratt and Bigham interview Dr. Penny Schwinn, Tennessee's Education Commissioner. She discusses how COVID has influenced education in the State of Tennessee with themes connected to rural education around the United States. She discusses the challenges of COVID and restructuring education to address these new challenges in education. Dr. Schwinn discusses other states and countries observing how they are reopening schools. She discusses how the United States differs from other countries in leadership, oversight, and deployment of new approaches in education to address remote or distance learning. For example, states in the US address reopening much differently than other countries where decisions are made centrally in the various nations' capitals.